Posts Tagged ‘mobile’

Unilever, in partnership with PSI and Facebook, hopes to harness the social graph to address one of the world’s most critical challenges: access to clean water… When [Facebook] users sign up to Waterworks, they partner with an individual waterworker, making the connection personal. The waterworker in the field is equipped with a smartphone, able to send updates back to partners through photos and videos. The updates post to the partner’s Facebook page, so all of their connections also see the impact the donation is making- how many liters of water the donation has provided and the number of people whose lives have been changed by the clean water.

stop and think about your marketing efforts, especially if they include ‘old school’ things like developing printed magazines that are mailed to clients… Turn your sights on producing content that’s available in different iterations, depending on the end consumers’ (your target audience) individual preferences… Be paying attention to the analytics on your website and corporate blog and watch how those numbers of people accessing your site from mobile devices is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Consider producing those magazines in app form or some other digital form that complements today’s mobile lifestyle.

I don’t have a problem with anonymised data being used to fund the free exchange of information online by helping marketers to target people efficiently and effectively. But many mobile apps can see and use too much of our personal information and communications as standard. So starting with Facebook I’m taking a stand on this…

Google said: ‘From the beginning, Android has had an industry-leading permissions system which informs consumers what data an app can access and requires users’ approval before installation.’

This ‘approval’ comeback completely misses the point… we want the app so we click yes, even if we don’t agree with or understand why it wants access to so much of our mobile data.

I’d suggest as a first step before the law catches up with this problematic area that the Apple App Store and Android Market include a ‘report unnecessary data collection’ button on every app in their collections so that potential users can report that although they want a certain application – they would like to protest at the level of information it has access to.

Some might argue that if we want free apps we need to pay the price by giving over everything about us to unaccountable corporations and institutions. I’d argue that if your business model depends on intruding upon people’s private lives to the extent of needing to know where they are all the time and who they are calling the world can do without your sociopathic stalker-esque enterprise. Seriously.

Coca-Cola is extending its Arctic Home campaign (a WWF partnership to save polar bears) with a mobile website that ties in with its Super Bowl ad campaign to drive charity donations. The advertising runs across three screens – television, mobile and social media.. [and] real-time information from the game will change how it displays. For each video a consumer shares to friends and family via Facebook and Twitter, Coca-Cola will donate $1 to its Arctic Home campaign. Coca-Cola will also donate $1 for each user who RSVPs to interact beforehand

With the ultimate aim of reducing homeless dogs in the United States – this new ‘Best Friends’ mobile app enables users to upload pictures of themselves to be shown a doggy ‘match’ based on facial characteristics. (Similar to this earlier Doggelganger site)

The App also provides: adoptable dog search by zip code, simple giving to help homeless pets, and their grassroots pledge to start seeing invisible dogs. The dual purpose of the app is to raise awareness of the thousands of dogs waiting in shelters to be seen and adopted..

What the app does well then, is combine multiple information points, ways for people to take action around the core issue, and entirely personalised fun… as for the numbers:

[Beth Kanter] asked Best Friends Marketing Coordinator Claudia Perrone how they were measuring success. The ultimate KPI, of course, is dog adoptions. But they are looking at associated metrics such as: downloads, user comments, sharing, and Google analytics to show dog searches… then data collection (emails and mobile opt-ins), microdonations, and buzz via earned media.

Social Local Mobile curation, where content and places are shared with a simple click, and value perception is added (often condensed in a line that is most probably shorter than 140 characters ), will drive a lot of the social web in 2012

every person, tethered to their smartphone, is both a sensor and an end node… We’re entering a feedback economy… Companies that get themselves on a feedback footing will dominate their industries, building better things faster for less money. Those that don’t are already the walking dead, and will soon be little more than case studies and colorful anecdotes. Big data, new interfaces, and ubiquitous computing are tectonic shifts in the way we live and work